EAST LANSING -- Asked last month about the potential of a future Big Ten Conference that could expand to 16 teams, Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis said he wasn't sure.

"The conference will continue to look at what's going to
protect our brand, what's going to protect our position for the long term and
where that number is, I don't know," Hollis said after Maryland was welcomed to the Big Ten while knowing Rutgers would follow next.

Later that day when it was brought up on Tom Izzo's radio show that the coach expected the future to be a 16-team superconference, Hollis again said he didn't know and that the Big Ten would protect its brand.

Izzo responded by leaning back in his chair, looking at the ceiling and laughing out loud before asking, "Who's coming in next, brother?"

"There are some advantages to 16 (teams) compared to 14," Hollis told ESPN on Wednesday. "Fourteen is clumsy. We're not out looking for two teams, but basically we will continue to survey the landscape."

ESPN reported speculation has swirled around the Big Ten pursuing ACC schools such as Georgia Tech, Virginia and North Carolina. Asked about Georgia Tech and North Carolina last month in an interview with 1320 WILS, Hollis did not offer a comment.

Hollis did not name candidates for Big Ten expansion with ESPN, but did expand, "what we'll look for is does it fit? What impact does it have on the current membership? If after (an) evaluation, you see any upside, then there is a reason to grow."